Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

Bellingham, WA -  With a strong local economy and favorable home buying conditions this  will prove to be a good time to buy or sell a home. There’s just too many economic conditions in place for home buyers, that are positioned to purchase a home, to ignore any longer.

Now is a good time to buy and sell real estate in Whatcom County, no matter what people may be hearing about the national market. The national media has focused too much on negative things that they only contribute to housing and economic problems instead of help. Thats the news cycle in general though, they tend to focus on negatives and rarely talk about the positive things in life. It’s unfortunate but very much true.

The Puget Sound economy is strong, unemployment rates are low, interest rates are low, local housing inventory is good and the return to good safe mortgage loans are back. It’s not a bad time to sell, especially if sellers will be turning around and buying, but sellers need to be flexible at the negotiating table in this type of market. With rental prices climbing over the last two years with less buyers in the market, It makes more sense to buy then rent currently. Coupled with the fact that home prices have plateaued or declined bodes well for home buyers.

I would have to agree with so many that a lot of the housing problems could be pointed firmly at the media, who are confusing the public by publishing headlines designed to appeal to emotions and reports that use local and national information to distort the truth at times. For them to report about the high number of subprime loans in the south and some how use that for the Northwest is confusing. The Northwest never got into the subprime loans on the scale of a lot of southern states, so no wonder we are doing so much better. But unfortunately that news is not getting out as much as the bad news from other parts of the country.

Limits on Federal Housing Administration loans were recently raised, which should give buyers more homes to choose from at favorable mortgage rates. Hopefully a bill that would lower the down payment requirement for FHA loans from 3 percent to 1.5 percent, making the loans more accessible to first-time buyers gets passed.

This past week both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were allowed to lower the amount of funds they kept in security from 30% down to 20%, freeing up two hundred billion for mortgages as well.

The subprime mortgage mess has made lenders return to “old school” restrictions and requirements. Buyers may have to get help from family rather than use a riskier loan. I think in the end it will be much better for buyers who use discipline in budgeting and learn to save for a down payment instead of securing no down payment loans of the past which teaches buyers nothing.

This “normalizing” of the market gives people a chance to take a few months and get their finances in order before purchasing a home.  I think if buyers put more of their own hard earned money in to a home, they will become less likely to fall behind in payments and go into foreclosure.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Bellingham Homes For Sale

Whatcom County, WA - The Whatcom Conservation District’s 15th annual Native Plant Sale will be held Saturday, March 22, in Bellingham. The event will be from 9 am to 4 pm in Cordata at the Community Food C0-0p’s second store location, Westerly Road and Cordata Parkway.

Those who visit will find 40 different species of native trees, shrub seedlings, and native wildflower seeds during the Whatcom Conservation District’s Native Plant Sale. This year’s event also will include the first Native Plant Expo, which will feature demonstrations, environmental exhibits and Earth-friendly activities.

Visit Whatcom Conservation District website for more details, including descriptions of the plants that will be sold. Their website is also packed with lots of information about plants, conservation efforts and area related links. WCD is dedicated to serving present and future generations of Whatcom County through a natural resource conservation program assistance to help foster a healthy, sustainable relationship between people and the environment.

For home owners this is a great opportunity to purchase plants that are native to the Northwest for planting in their yards and supporting the local conservation group. Visitors can also enjoy the Native Plant Expo while looking for plants to purchase.

In following years from now, and you come across this article, just remember that the annual plant sale is held during the month of March. The Whatcom Conservation District’s web site posts the event well in advance, so just save their site and ours to your favorite’s for future reference.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Whatcom County Real Estate

Bellingham, WA - March is traditionally when homeowners thinking of selling their homes prepare their property for listing in the local Whatcom County real estate market. The winter holidays are usually the slowest time of the year because of the cold weather and holiday events. As soon as buds start to appear on trees it seems to be the real beginning of the listing season and for sale signs pop up in yards.

The last two years there have been a few more for sale signs than usual and they have stayed longer than the boom years from a few years ago. To stay competitive in this ever changing market most homeowners thinking of selling need an edge to get noticed. The best thing a homeowner can do is make sure their home is in show condition. I’ve posted about the importance of staging a home for sale before, so I won’t go into to much today. Our viewers might want to visit an article we posted called selling your home in a buyer’s market to get an edge in selling their home. There are also some good articles under our Seller Tips category that should help as well.

Bellingham and Whatcom County home owners have it a lot better than many real estate markets in southern states across the nation. According to the statistics, Whatcom County only had 19% of all loans in the sub-prime market, with 81% in prime lending. That number most definitely has dropped even more, now that the mortgage industry has returned to more normal loans. Just because Whatcom County has 19% of mortgages in the sub-prime market does not mean all of these will fail. It’s estimated that only about 5% of these will go into some form of foreclosure. By checking out the following national subprime mortgage map, county by county, home owners can get a better feel for where the real problems are across the nation.

If one were to look at the subprime map, you can see that the Northwest really doesn’t have the same problem that the many areas of the country are experiencing. I mention this because It’s really the negative chatter and consumer sentiment that is making our real estate markets tough in the Northwest. Because we are a national economy it does effect us locally, but certainly not like those in parts of California, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and many more states.

The thing most home owners should take to heart is that if your selling in a buyers market and planning to buy right away, then on the buying side you will gain that advantage. Actually no matter what market your in, as long as your selling and turning around and buying again…you’ll do fine. Happy Saint Patrick’s day everyone and may you find good luck in all your housing needs this year.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Bellingham WA Real Estate

Ever since the Canadian Dollar started to reach parity with the American Dollar, our Canadian neighbors have been buying more and more across the border. Just in the last year retail sales have seen an up tick in the local Whatcom County market. Most retail items in Canada, on par, are more expensive than in the states, so Canadians are shopping in Whatcom County and the Puget Sound region more often.

In the real estate market I’ve also experienced at least a third of all my business calls coming from across the border. Most of the Canadians that I’ve spoke to, have said that they can get much better deals on real estate by buying in Whatcom County and else where.  As long as the two currencies are relatively close in price, I think we’ll see more and more of our Canadian friends purchasing homes in Bellingham over the next few years.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Bellingham Homes For Sale

 the National newspaper USA Today posted this little stat the other day in their paper showing that Bellingham, Washington showed that area homes were holding there value. In fact it was the second best area in the country during 2007 with that distinction.

I Believe that since the Whatcom County housing market is so close to the Canadian market and the fact that our Canadian neighbors are buying purchasing property down here helps contribute to our real estate. Ever since the Canadian Looney and the American Dollar achieved parity with each other, more and more home buyers from British Columbia have been buying property in Bellingham and Whatcom County.

When you compare the geographical areas where most residents of lower mainland British Columbia and the areas of Whatcom County the population is nearing three million in BC and just 180,000 in Whatcom County. A home in Whatcom County would be 2-3 times it’s value if it was located in the more demand driven British Columbia markets.

But nevertheless its always nice to see yet another national magazine touting Whatcom County, this time on home prices.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham Real Estate

During the whole month of December we have been developing a brand new Whatcom County real estate web site in order to better serve our buyers and sellers for the Whatcom County area.  The site will also provide services to the Skagit County, Island County, and San Juan County real estate market as well.

Our new web site will provide extensive information about the Whatcom County area to better inform buyers relocating to our area. 

The search real estate capabilities will be built out over time and we have joined the REW web site capabilities on our WhatcomRealEstate.com site with our WhatcomHomeSearch.com to create a Dynamic web site of the future. The combination of these two sites together will serve our current clients and future clients needs in so many ways, that we feel we will be providing them with many advantages over the competition.  

 About a week ago I came across a local web site with a holiday theme, packed with things to do during Christmas and the site is called Simplify Christmas. Go check out what an amazing job researcher and writer Rod Brock has put together for our local Bellingham WA community and beyond.

If your looking for something to do on any of these last Nine days prior to Christmas consider visiting Simplify Christmas. It looks like what ever is going on locally and else where in our Northwest WA region he seems to find it and has done a great job of posting it to his web site.  I would even read back through the blog as well, to find out where some of the good light shows and events are occurring on an on going basis through the month of December.  You might want to save his site for next year’s holiday season as well to get a jump on things to do during the holidays of 2008 and beyond.

 Bellingham, WA - Chuckanut Drive is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful and scenic areas in the Northwest. If given the choice to take Chuckanut Drive over I-5 freeway, on my way back to Bellingham or on the way out of town, hands down, I’d choose Scenic Chuckanut Drive on a sunny day.

For even residents of this part of Northwest Washington, very few tire of what this 20 mile stretch of Highway has to offer. Chuckanut Drive runs from just south of historic Fairhaven area of Bellingham south to the Bow area of Skagit County.  There are many opportunities along the long stretch of Chuckanut Drive to park along the road and take in the breath taking views of Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands. 

It goes without saying that homes for sale along Chuckanut Drive tend to be expensive, but when your address ends in Chuckanut Drive most observers in Whatcom County and Skagit County would expect Chuckanut Real Estate to be pricey.  When it comes to Location as a principle of real estate, Chuckanut has to be one of the most sought after addresses for real estate.

What is it about Chuckanut that draws over a half million travelers up and down this beautiful stretch of highway after all…the sun setting on a clear warm summer day, does it for me. There’s a spot about the half way point where you can stop, walk along a short trail, and really enjoy some fantastic views. I named this spot “Heavens Porch”, because it truly feels like your looking out upon sheer beauty of what heaven must look like.

To find out whats for sale currently on Chuckanut Drive visit our Bellingham WA Real Estate and search Chuckanut Drive real estate. Tour the Scenic Chuckanut Drive sometime soon, you’ll remember it forever.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Chuckanut Drive Homes For Sale

Bellingham, WA - A local non-profit network of local, independently owned Whatcom  County businesses and supporters are going strong with the idea of Sustainable Connections.  The local group, in it’s fifth year of existence, promotes the idea of local consumers thinking local, buy local, and be local when it comes to buying decisions. It’s a great concept to support local community businesses and to strengthen the local Bellingham and Whatcom County communities as a whole.

The group of local businesses has coalesced under the banner of Sustainable Connections and put that idea to rest. Chris Webb of 2020 Engineering was one of the founders of the group about ten years ago.  Despite attracting 50-60 people to a number of events, the group lost momentum when some of its members had to put more energy into running their businesses.

Rick Dubrow of A-1 Builders met Michelle & Derek Long at a state forum on sustainable business practices.  They discovered a mutual interest in the environment, strong communities, and a “local living economy.”  Their discussions resulted in a renaissance for Sustainable Connections, an influx of new members, and a determination to keep the momentum going.  Sustainable Connections has a great article on their site written by Whatcom County Businesses Pulse, called Whatcom Group Makes Sustainable Connections that really gives an understanding of how this movement was developed.

I really hope someday that Whatcom County awards Rick Dubrow, A-1 Builders, the lifetime achievement award for all the valuable time he has donated to this county towards the green movement.  When I think about Green in Whatcom County, my first thought is Rick Dubrow.

Their membership currently stands at over 600 business, affiliate and supporter members. In the past five years they have had some heavy hitters join their ranks to include Brown & Cole’s Cost Cutter Foods, Barkley Company, People’s Bank, Samuel’s Furniture, Pioneer Ford, WECU, and so many more. Here’s a complete list of Sustainable Connections members.  Their list of local board members and advisers looks more like the who’s who of Whatcom County with the likes of: Pete Kremen, Whatcom County Executive; Dan Pike, Mayor of Bellingham; Craig Cole, CEO, Brown & Cole; Kelli Linville, State Representative, WA State; and Mark Asmundson, Director, Northwest Clean Air Agency.

To demonstrate how much their message has gotten out…after finishing some business with WECU yesterday, I was enjoying lunch at Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro and while reading Cascadia Weekly noticed the Sustainable Connections twelve page insert. I ended up taking both the Weekly and insert home with me.  On my way home I stopped in to Cost Cutter in Ferndale and got a few groceries.  I then noticed all the plastic bags were covered in Sustainable Connections information and the Buy Local logo.  All four businesses I dealt with in a span of two hours were current partners with Sustainable Connections.  Id say their getting the message out there pretty good.

The Green movement seems to have really taken off nationally in the past couple of years, but to veterans like Webb, Dubrow, and the Long’s, they have been practicing this movement way before the idea even had a name. The sustainable concept is a way of life for a lot of local Bellingham businesses and residents now, and has propelled Bellingham to the epic center of a new economic model for other areas to follow.

From their own mission statement, Sustainable Connections provides support to our local community of innovators in green building, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, supporting independent businesses in town centers, and mentoring a new breed of entrepreneurs that have designed their business with a sustainable vision.

Their goal is to educate local businesses and government entities and to help them participate in the opportunities of a sustainable economy. They try to Connect businesses to each other, and to the local marketplace so they can grow the local economy.

It’s a great concept that has really taken hold locally on a grassroots basis, and has so much to gain once more and more people are educated on how easy it is to participate.  I think the current popularity of the green movement will really help the project blossom over the coming years and hopefully it becomes a standard in the way we all live our lives.

 I encourage anyone that wants to learn about making a difference, where ever you happen to live, to visit the local Bellingham Sustainable Connections site and learn how you to can make a difference in your local community as well.

Brought to you by Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Northwest Living

Bellingham, WA - Western Washington University has again been ranked first among top public master’s-granting universities in the Pacific Northwest and second in the West, according to rankings of universities and colleges published by US News and World Report.  Only two public schools are ranked in the top 20 among master’s-granting universities in the West, a region stretching from Texas to the Pacific Ocean.

Western was ranked in the top five percent in a study measuring the percentage of baccalaureate-degree recipients who go on to earn a research doctorate.  The study, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, looked at information from 1996 to 2005 collected from 560 institutions granting master’s degrees.

“We are committed to an environment for teaching and learning that has repeatedly earned Western this kind of recognition, which is a tribute to the excellence of our faculty, staff and students,” said Western President Karen W. Morse.

Since the first U.S. News rankings in 1987, Western has been highly rated in 19 of 21 years. Rankings are based on a variety of criteria including academic reputation, student selectivity and retention, faculty resources, peer assessment and financial resources.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225 - Bellingham Real Estate